


The Joyride

by Katiebug445



Category: Supernatural
Genre: BUT NOBODY DIES FOR ONCE IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, Homophobic Language, Luci is a crazy ass truck driver hell bent on killing Sam and Gabe, M/M, More so mentions of Destiel, Violence, and there's some mild Sam/Jess there too but not enough I feel to warrant its own tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-02-05 02:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1802659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebug445/pseuds/Katiebug445
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
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    <img/>
  </p>
</div>It's the end of his first year at a community college in Kansas. Sam Winchester is called up by a friend of his, a pretty girl named Jessica Moore, who's out in Stanford and needs a ride home. Sam agrees to come pick her up and takes his older brother's car to do it. On the way, Dean calls and says that his boyfriend's (Castiel) older brother (Gabriel) has been picked up and is spending the night in a jail in Salt Lake City, Utah, and would Sam mind picking him up. Sam also agrees, more so out of obligation to his friendship with Castiel than anything, and the two continue on with Sam's trip.<br/>When Gabriel buys an old CB radio and begins messing with truckers, the fun begins. He convinces Sam to help with a prank that starts off innocently enough, but ends up being the trip of their lives.
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter one

"Dean, can I borrow your car for the weekend?" Sam Winchester asked his older brother as Dean was walking out the door.

The older Winchester turned, eyebrow raised, and pointed out to the road at his prized possession. “ _My_ car? Why my car?”

Sam stalled for a moment, trying to think of a way to explain without sounding pathetic. “Because… Because…” He sighed, closing his eyes and just deciding to get it out. “Because Jess called me last night and she needs a ride home from school.”

Dean smirked at his little brother. “So you wanna impress her, is that it?”

Sam nodded, embarrassed. “So… Can I?”

Dean tossed him the keys and started back up for the house, a protective look in his eyes. “You bring her back with one scratch - _ONE_ scratch, Sam - and you’re dead. Do you hear me?”

"Loud and clear."

Dean chuckled at his brother and stepped back, hand out and waiting expectantly. “Come on, big shot. Hand over your keys.” Sam dug around in his pockets for a moment before handing his brother his own car keys and rushing back inside to pack. "I mean it, Sam!" Dean called after him. "One scratch and you’re dead!"

"Thanks!" Sam yelled back.

_____

Sam had been on the road, driving out from Lawrence, Kansas to Stanford, California as fast as he could. He thought maybe if he got out there a couple days early that maybe he could spend some extra time with Jessica, and maybe talk himself into transferring to Stanford in the fall. He stopped for the night in a small town in Colorado and was trying to work the phone in his motel room so he could call home and check in. "How’s my car?" Was the first question out of Dean’s mouth after "are you alive".

"It’s fine, Dean. Perfect condition."

"She better be…" He muttered, but something felt off.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked as Dean fell silent for a moment. He could tell something was up, and he really wished his brother would just get it out. "What is it?"

"Nothing, really. Cas… Cas just called me and said his brother - you remember Gabriel? - is being held in a Salt Lake jail for drunk driving. Since you’re heading out there anyways, he was wanting to know if maybe you’d stop by, pick him up? He said he’d wire you the bail money."

Sam thought about it for a moment, thinking about saying no but knowing that he couldn’t. Castiel Novak was his brother’s boyfriend, and his own friend. He knew how much Gabriel meant to Cas, having him be the only family out side of themselves that he had, and to say no would kill him. “Yeah, Dean. I can do that. It’s not too far out of the way anyways.” He lied.

"Thanks, Sam."

"Don’t mention it."

_______

So, that was how Sam ended up outside the holding area of a Utah jail, waiting on Gabriel fucking Novak to get his shit together so they could go.Sam could hear Gabriel saying things in rapid fire to the escorting officer, promising he would change his ways, and that this would never happen again. Sam rolled his eyes, betting himself Gabriel would be back in custody within the month.

"…I promise, sir, it’ll never happen again. I’m a changed man! I swear to you!"

"Uh huh." came the reply. It appeared that Sam wasn’t the only one who doubted the older Novak after all.

"I’m gonna get my life together, go to AA, and maybe—- Sam! Sam Winchester!" Gabriel grabbed his bags and ran over to the younger boy, giving him an approving once over, followed by a soft frown. "You’re taller than me now, kiddo. When’d that happen?"

Sam just shrugged his shoulders and glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Over the summer,” he said testily. “Are you ready to go? I’d like to get back on the road.”

Gabriel’s smile fell even more, but he nodded and hitched his bag higher up on his shoulder. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”

______

The first mistake was leaving Gabriel alone in his car while he stopped for directions. They were trying to get out of SLC when they got lost. It was getting dark and hard to see, and Gabriel was no help at all with a map. They ended up near Morgan, Utah, as opposed to heading south to Provo like they needed to be. Sam was pissed at this point, more so because Gabriel kept reminding him he couldn’t read the map than anything. Eventually, Sam just pulled off at a truck stop since there were no motels anywhere around, and leaned his head back. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He told Gabriel before closing his eyes and willing sleep to come.

He could hear Gabriel awkwardly rustling around for a moment as he tried to get comfortable, and just the noises alone were enough to piss him off even more. Finally, the older boy settled down, and before long, Sam could hear him snoring. He decided then and there that it would be a long night.

____

The next morning, Sam woke up, and seeing that there was life at the truck stop now, decided to ask for directions as opposed to trusting his companion with it anymore. The noise Sam made getting up and out was enough to wake Gabriel from his own sleep, and he decided to look around while he waited.

When Sam came back, Gabriel was sprawled out across the front seat, his head on the floor of the Impala, and he could hear banging. Sam nearly dropped his things and ran over to the driver’s side, his heart stopping for a moment when he saw what the older boy was doing. Gabriel was in the middle of installing a CB radio under the dashboard, banging and probably creating dents that Sam would have to answer for later on. "What are you doing?!" Sam asked, completely panicked. "Stop it! Dean’s gonna kill me if he finds out about this!"

Gabriel turned and looked up at Sam, blinking against the sudden brightness of the sky, and smirked. “Relax, Sammikins. Your uptight brother won’t know a thing. It’s just ‘til we get home.”

"Why? What’s the point of this thing?"

The older Novak shrugged. “It’s a long drive, I have a short attention span. Might as well have a little fun with some truckers. ‘Sides that, it’s a good way to keep a lookout for cops.”

"Why would we need to do that?"

"Uh, hello, Earth to Moose. So you can get to your lady friend that much faster."

"You mean speeding," Sam said, leaning against the car and shaking his head. "I’m not speeding, Gabe. The last thing I need is a ticket. In my brother’s car."

"Hence the radio, Sambo. This way, we’ll know where they are and how long we can get away with it."

Sam thought about it for a few moments, half of him telling him that he should rip it out right then and there, and tell Gabriel to go fuck himself; maybe leave him on the side of the road, too. But he _did_ want to see Jess. And anything that got him to her faster was good in his book. So, he said nothing and waited for Gabriel to finish up before climbing back into the car and taking off.

_____

“‘Ey, breaker, breaker, this is Angel Boy here on the lookout for some porkers? Anybody see any porkers? Over.” Gabriel drawled into the mic.

"You’re good all the way to Provo, Angel Boy. Over."

"You’re good for about 45 miles there, bucko." Gabriel told him.

"I still can’t believe you talked me into keeping that thing." Sam muttered, his mind already coming up with excuses to tell his brother and ways to disguise the dents that were surely there.

"Don’t worry! It’ll be fun, Sammy!"

Sam cringed at the nickname. “Don’t call me that.”

"Sorry, Sammy. No can do. I like it, so you’re just gonna have to deal with it." Gabriel grinned over at Sam and wiggled his eyebrows at him. Sam had to resist reaching over to punch him right in the nose. _It’s just until you get home, then you never have to deal with him again._ Sam thought to himself. He knew it wasn’t true, but it was a nice thought.

Gabriel continued playing with his radio for awhile, and Sam couldn’t help but laugh at him occasionally. The accent he was using was horrible and he had no idea why people were buying into it, but they were. “You’re kind of ridiculous, you know that?” Gabriel just grinned even more and went back to messing with the truckers.

_____

As it got later, Gabriel slowed down with his pranking. After 10:00, he stopped almost all together, just checking in now and then about cops now and then when they got close to the freeways. At 12:00, he quieted completely and Sam thought he must have fallen asleep, the mic still clutched in his hand. "I never thanked you, did I?"

The silence was so thick that the comment startled Sam to the point he swerved a little on the road. “I’m sorry?”

"I never thanked you for coming to pick me up, did I?"

"No, you didn’t." Sam replied, almost adding that he didn’t really expect him to, or that he only did it because Cas had asked, but it sounded a bit too harsh even to him. Sam wisely kept his mouth shut.

Gabriel paused for a beat, turned his head a little, and Sam could just make out the outline of a smile on his thin lips. “Well, thanks.”

"Don’t mention it." Gabriel shook his head and turned to look at Sam again, and the younger Winchester watched as the lights pass over Gabe’s eyes. Sam couldn’t help but watch the different colors mingle with golden irises of his companion; it was, for lack of a better word, kind of beautiful.

“I mean it, Sam.” Gabriel said. “Think anybody else would go four hours out of their way when they got a girl waitin’ on ‘em for my sorry ass? I really didn’t expect you to show up, but I’m glad you did.”

Sam swallowed and shook his head, turning back to the road. “Like I said, don’t mention it.”

______

Gabriel’s game continued on the next day, starting as soon as the older Novak woke up and was coherent enough to speak. “Breaker, breaker, this is Angel Boy, here with Samsquatch, checkin’ in on the copper situation. Over.” Sam had started to tune Gabriel out again, when the older boy nudged his arm. “Hey, Sam, you should get on here with a girl voice, play a little joke on some of these guys.”

"I can’t do a girl voice, Gabriel."

"Yeah you can! What about the one time, back in middle school when I talked you into pranking… Uh…"

"Michael Milton?"

"YEAH!" Gabriel yelled. "You did it then, why not now?"

Sam turned to Gabriel with a bitchface to end all bitchfaces, and said, “Because my voice hadn’t dropped yet, and you threatened to break my chemistry set if I didn’t.”

Gabriel paused, remembering the incident, and grinned. “Sam, I swear to you right now, if you don’t do this, I will break that fucking chemistry set into a thousand pieces set the minute we get back to Lawrence.”

Sam just laughed and grabbed the mic, taking a moment to get his voice right before speaking. “Hello, this is…” Sam’s eyes flickered to Gabriel and he thought for a second, thinking of a handle for himself, and tried not to laugh. “This is Candy Cane, looking for Angel Boy.”

Gabriel grabbed the mic once again, assuming his own character, and spoke: “Candy Cane, this here is Angel Boy. You wanna meet up for dinner a little later?”

Sam grabbed the thing from Gabriel’s hand, taking a moment to calm down before answering. “Sure would, sugar. Just name the time and place, and I’ll try my best to get there.”

They continued on for a few moments, shamelessly flirting back and forth with each other, when a newcomer came across the CB and caused a brief panic for both boys. “Candy Cane?” a smooth and dangerous voice asked.

Sam and Gabriel looked at each other, Sam’s face bright with embarrassment and a little fear, and Gabriel’s with so much amusement that Sam thought that his face might split if he kept it up. “Talk to him.” Gabriel demanded.

"What? No, I’m done. I’m not talking to him. It’s wrong."

"Sam, you’re gonna do it. I mean really! How different is doing this from scamming some perv on a chat room? This is like the ancient internet. And besides, the guy can’t see you, anyways, so it’s not like he'll ask you to send him nudes or something. Relax."

Sam thought about it for a moment before motioning for Gabriel to give him the mic, and said “I’m right here, sug, what’cha need?”

"What do you look like?" The trucker asked.

Sam turned to Gabriel and shot him another look, and the older boy grinned at him and gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Well, hon, I’m 5’11”, I have blond hair and blue eyes, and a killer smile.” Sam went on for several moments, answering every question as best as he could, before the trucker stopped responding, and the game was over.

________

When the two pulled off for the night, it was nearing 10:00, and Sam was exhausted from driving for almost 18 straight hours. They’d not heard from the trucker since the afternoon, and although he was relieved not to have to keep it up anymore, Sam was a little disappointed. He waited in the car for Gabriel while he checked them into a room at a Knight’s Inn right off the freeway, humming tunelessly to himself and tapping his fingers against the steering wheel while he watched. He watched the man in front of Gabriel yelling at the manager, and then Gabriel as he turned slightly to make overly exaggerated scared faces back to Sam.

The younger Winchester laughed, shaking his head and smirking at his friend. Then the man caught Gabriel doing what he was doing, and started yelling at him. He got up into Gabriel’s personal space, arms flailing angrily around, and was slowly backing the shorter man into a corner. Gabriel shot a look out at Sam that screamed _help!_ and Sam climbed out of the car and headed inside."Back off, buddy," Sam growled, pulling the older man off of Gabriel, who in turn gave a small sigh of relief.

The man looked between the two of them, a look of disgust and mock amusement crossing his face. “This your little boyfriend here?” he asked, shoving Gabriel back against the wall. “Huh? This your little butt buddy?”

Sam dragged the man away again, a murderous look in his eyes, and shoved him towards the door. “I said back off.”

The man shook his head and spit on Sam’s shoe before turning to the manager and saying, “You should be ashamed of yourself, renting rooms to queers.” He shot one more disgusted look at Sam and Gabriel before turning to leave, muttering to himself about the days when God almost had them all killed off with AIDS.

Sam shook his head, fuming at the retreating figure for a few seconds before walking over to where Gabriel was still against the wall, fear bright in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

Gabriel nodded, swallowing quickly, before turning to look up at Sam. “Yeah. Thanks for riding in on a white horse, by the way. Probably saved my neck there.”

Sam offered a soft smile and shook his head. “Don’t mention it.”

_______

As they were unloading their things from the car and talking about the altercation between Gabriel and the man in the office, a voice came back across the radio. “Candy Cane?”

The two boys shared a look, and Gabriel grinned. “You gotta tell him you wanna meet up. You have to do it Sam.”

Sam shook his head. “I’m done, Gabe. I’m not doing it anymore.”

"Come on, Sam. It’s harmless."

"It’s not going to be harmless when a horny, 200 pound trucker comes looking for me in the middle of the night!"

"Obviously you’re not gonna tell him to come to our room, you moron!" Gabriel thought for a minute, looking around the motel parking lot, and saw the man from earlier heading into his own room. "Tell him to meet you in room 68 at midnight."

"No, Gabe."

Gabriel gave Sam an incredulous look, golden eyes wide and mouth open, and pointed to the office. “Did you not see what just happened in there?! What that fucking asshole did to me? What he said to us?! This is the chance for revenge, Sam! This is a chance to finally get people like that back for the slurs, and their cruelness. Why aren’t you wanting this?” Sam thought for a moment, at war with himself, as Gabriel continued. “We’re in room 69. It’ll be fun. I promise.”

"Candy Cane?" Came the voice again.

Sam sighed, closing his eyes and pressing the button on the mic. “Right here, sug.”

"Would it be rude of me to ask if I could meet you?"

"Not at all, darlin’. I’m stayin’ at the Knights Inn, right off Highway 6, headin’ from Jericho to Sugarville. Stayin’ in room 68." Sam explained.

Gabriel tapped him on the arm, motioning for him to cut it for a minute, and grinned, “Tell him to meet you at midnight, and tell him to bring a bottle of chocolate sauce.” He then erupted in laughter, and Sam smacked him hard on the leg.

"You’re disgusting."

"But you love me anyways."

Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed the mic again, “Meet me at midnight, and just for some fun, bring a bottle of chocolate sauce with you.” Sam shut off the radio then, smacking a very giddy Gabriel once again on the leg, and shook his head. “This better work, or else I’m letting him take you for a hostage.” Gabriel got out of the car laughing and took his stuff to their room.


	2. Chapter two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a warning, there's mention of blood, and getting cut, and all of that good stuff. Just to be safe.

Sometime close to 11:50, Sam was awoken to the sound of a big rig pulling into the motel lot. He blinked, glancing at his watch, and carefully got out of bed so not to wake Gabriel, going to the window to peek out. He watched the semi pull off to the side of the parking lot, and watched as a taller man stepped down out of the cab holding a bag. "Oh fuck," he whispered, scrambling over to Gabriel and shaking him awake. "Gabe. Gabe, the guy's here. He's out in the lot."

Gabriel jerked awake, trying to make himself go back to sleep before Sam's words started making sense to him. "Wait, really?!" Gabriel hopped out of his own bed, hurrying over to the window as the man walked by, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh my god, Sam, he's out there. He's actually out there! It worked!"

Sam shushed the shorter man as they heard knocking coming from the next room, and both boys pressed their ears against the adjoining wall to listen in.

"Candy Cane?" Came the trucker's voice after the knocking. "Candy Cane!"

There was a brief pause before they heard the man from earlier swear and then pad to the door. "Do you know what fucking time it is?" They heard him ask.

"Where's Candy Cane?"

"The fuck are you talkin' about, buddy?"

"Where's Candy Cane?"

"Get the fuck out of here."

It was quiet for another moment before they heard a loud crash, a muffled whimper, and the low growl of the trucker. Gabriel turned to Sam, fear on the shorter boy's face for the first time since this began, and moved away from the wall.

 _Should we call somebody?_  Gabriel mouthed.

Sam shook his head, still listening in. He could hear footsteps moving towards the door, and he motioned for Gabriel to peek through the eyehole at their own. Gabriel did as instructed, but didn't see anything, which he told Sam.

"Oh man," Gabriel moaned, moving back to sit on his bed. "Oh man, what the fuck'd we do? What if he's hurt, Sam?"

"It's too late to do anything about it now." Sam replied, slowly moving away from the wall. "Besides that, he's gone. The guy is probably okay, and you're overreacting." He moved back to his bed, getting back under the covers and laying his head down on his pillow, his body facing Gabriel. "Just go back to sleep, alright?"

Gabriel, still completely freaked out by the whole mess, nodded limply and robotically pulling the blankets up around himself, and laying on his back. It took Gabriel almost the whole rest of the night to fall back to sleep, but he managed, just a couple hours before the real terror began.  
_______

Gabriel was awoken to the muffled sounds of someone talking outside of their room. He opened his eyes, taking his time getting out of bed. Sam's things were already packed and sitting on the end of his bed, and the younger of the two had already set his own bag up, ready and waiting for him to pack.

He dressed quickly, pressing his ear against the door in an attempt to make out what the context of the conversation was before slipping outside and going to stand beside Sam.

"....You're sure you didn't see anything last night? Didn't hear any strange noises?" The deputy interviewing Sam asked.

Sam shook his head, barely turning to look at a very confused Gabriel, and answered calmly. "No sir. We were asleep by 10:00. I just got up when you guys pounded at the door."

"And what about you, son?" The officer asked, turning to Gabriel.

For a moment, he almost considered coming clean, but one quick look up at the younger Winchester was enough to keep him quiet. Sam shouldn't have to suffer for his mistake. "No sir. I was asleep before him." He lied easily.

"You're sure?" He asked once more, and both boys nodded. "Okay then, thank you for your time, gentlemen."  
____

Gabriel hardly said a word until the two of them were safely on the road, twenty miles away from Jericho. "What was that about?"

Sam's jaw clenched slightly, and Gabriel could see the hardness that came across his eyes before he answered. "They found our friend twenty miles outside of the motel this morning, half his face scrapped across the blacktop and, oh yeah, his bottom jaw was missing."

Gabriel's stomach churned and he blinked, trying to make sense of it. "You don't think--"

"Yeah, Gabe, I do."

"Should we... Should we go see him?"

Sam shook his head and pushed the gas a little harder. "I want out of this damn town as fast as possible."

Gabriel leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes, trying to calm his stomach.  
_____

Not a lot happened for the first part of the day; not until Gabriel turned on the CB in an attempt to look for cops yet again.

"Candy Cane?" Came the familiar voice. "Anybody seen Candy Cane?"

Sam slammed on the breaks on the middle of the freeway in a fit of panic, and turned to look at Gabriel with horro plastered across his face. "He never stops, does he?" He asked breathlessly.

Gabriel, for once, had no reply. He gingerly picked up the mic from its holder, staring at it as though it would provide him with the answer to Sam's question. His heart pounded in his chest as they listened, praying that the guy would eventually just stop. Gabriel had half a mind to turn the damn thing off and throw it out the window, but he didn't. Not yet.

"Or Angel Boy? Or Samsquatch?"

Sam swallowed, only realizing he was still stopped when someone coming up behind them blared on the horn and scared the daylights out of him. He started the engine and pulled them off onto the shoulder of the road so they could get their barrings without dying. "What are we gonna do?" He asked.

Gabriel was still for another few moments, listening as the driver continued asking for the two of them, before finally deciding on what to do. He grabbed the mic and pressed the button, but released it after a moment of not being able to speak. He tried again once he'd calmed down some, assuming his voice, and said "Angel Boy here, looking for..." it was then that Gabriel realized they'd never gotten the other driver's handle.

Apparently, it was enough, because a moment later, the mysterious man replied, asking Gabriel what happened to Candy Cane. Gabriel, having no ready response, just said that he would get back to him about it later, after talking to Miss Cane, who had promised a meet up for dinner later on.  
_____

When they finally crossed over the Nevada border, they felt it was safe enough for them to stop for awhile and stretch their legs. Sam pulled into the lot of an all night diner, and waited until he made sure Gabriel was safely beside him before attempting to go inside.

They stayed for well over an hour, Gabriel shoving slice of pie after slice down his throat and Sam gulping down coffee after coffee, wanting to get farther into the state before they stopped for the night.

Finally, around 1:00 a.m., Sam nudged Gabriel with his foot under the table and asked, "You ready to go?" Gabriel replied with a nod, and Sam paid the bill. After that, they were back on the road and trying to navigate in the dark.

They must have forgotten to turn the CB off, because as soon as Sam started the engine, the first thing they heard was a voice that sent chills up their spines. "Candy Cane? Angel Boy? Anybody heard from either of them tonight?"

By this point, Gabriel'd had enough. He ripped the mic from its holder and screamed into the handset. "Look man! It was all a joke, okay? There is no Candy Cane, or Angel Boy. There's no girl, period! It was a joke! We fucked with you, okay? Now for the love of fuck, leave us the hell alone!"

Things were quiet for a few moments, before the voice returned. "You know, you really should get that fixed." Neither boy said anything in response, and the trucker continued. "You've got a broken tail light, you should get it fixed."

"Sam," Gabriel said, panicked, "how... how's he know we have a taillight out? How's he know?"

Sam's eyes flickered to the rear view mirror, and bright headlights greeted him, blinding him for a moment. "Oh fuck," he breathed. "Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Gabe, he's back there! The fucker's back there!"

Gabriel turned to look out the back window and was met with the blaring of a trucker's horn. "FUCK!" He shouted, completely panicking at the situation. "We - we need to lose him. Sam...?"

Sam chanced a look around, and, since he didn't see any cops in their immediate area, hurried around the car in front of them and stepped on the gas, hoping to lose the trucker.

The air inside the Impala was tense for almost an hour after the incident, but Sam finally felt confident that they'd lost him. He took a breath, his hands unclenching from the steering wheel and his body relaxing some. "I think we're safe." He told Gabriel, glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes and watching as he too relaxed.

Neither of them said anything for a long while, too scared to break the calm that had come over them, and just watched nervously each time they came near a semi. Sam could tell that something was wrong with Gabriel, and for a moment, he almost felt glad. He was the reason that they'd gotten into this mess; but at the same time, Sam knew how Gabriel was. He reminded him of Dean, in a way. He knew that Gabriel was probably beating himself up inside worse than anybody else could. He knew it would be wrong to say something hurtful right then.

"This isn't your fault," Sam promised, glancing at his companion. "You couldn't have known what would happen, Gabe. It wasn't your fault." Gabriel nodded at Sam weakly, not really believing him, but not wanting to say so and risk Sam going on a rant to him or something, and leaned his head against the window.  
________

After a few more miles on the road, the Impala started getting low on gas, which meant they would have to stop. Sam tried to push it to Pioche before they had to pull off, but the car wasn't having any of it. A mile and a half outside of the city, the Impala stopped, and Sam had just enough juice to get it off the highway and onto the shoulder before it died completely.

"No." Sam whiled, laying his head against the steering wheel. "Not now."

Gabriel chanced a look back behind them, just to make sure that they weren't being followed by any trucks, and once he saw they were safe, laid his hand on Sam's shoulder and looked over at him. "I told you we should have stopped hours ago."

"Not the time, Gabe." Sam replied, not moving. The younger of the two thought for a moment, trying to think of what they could do. One of them could stay with the car to make sure it was safe, but they would be in danger if the trucker or one of his friends happened to pass by, or they could both go, risk the car getting stolen, but keep an eye on each other. Sam had to think about it for a moment, and after deciding that he would rather risk the car than his or Gabriel's life, opened his door and got out. If something happened, Dean could just deal with it. "Come on," he said to the other man, unlocking the trunk and pulling out the gas can. "We're walking."

Without one word, Gabriel hopped out and ran after Sam, who'd already started down the shoulder. He didn't have a lot to say on the walk, just kept his eyes out for trouble, and held his hand dangerously close down beside one of Sam's - in case they would have to start running and he would need to grab Sam, he told himself.

An hour later, they arrived at the station, exhausted and wanting to sit down for awhile. Gabriel kept a look out while Sam pumped gas, and then waited right outside the entrance when he went to go pay. Something about the night didn't feel right, Gabriel decided; the air was tense and something just felt off. He glanced inside while Sam waited in line to pay, trying to will the line to move faster.

When Sam finally made his way back out, Gabriel was tense and antsy to get back to the car. As Sam was starting it up, a truck pulled into the lot and caused both boys to tense up almost immediately. They watched as the vehicle pulled up to one of the pumps and the driver hopped out to fill the tank, and it sent Sam into a bit of hysterical laughter. "We're being stupid, you realize that?" At Gabriel's look of confusion, Sam continued. "I mean really. Not every truck we see is going to be him, Gabe. We're being ridiculous."

"You're probably right," Gabriel replied, "but it doesn't change the fact that we have a psychopath chasing us, Sam. Excuse me for being a little nervous."

Sam said nothing in reply, just pulled away from the pump and into a parking space near the building. The two they sat there for a several moments, trying to calm down enough so they could decide what to do next. After another few moments, Sam pulled back out onto the road and they started off again. They were okay until they realized that, once again, they were being followed.

They'd maybe been driving five minutes or so when they heard it. The blaring horn of a semi right behind them. Sam yelled, wondering if it was possible for them to lose it or not. "Shit, shit, shit," Sam muttered under his breath, swerving in and out of the lanes and trying to shake the truck enough for them to get away. It worked for a little while, but soon enough, the Ice truck was right on their bumper again, and it scared Sam enough that he ended up swerving off the road and over the ditch, into a field.

After making sure that both he and Gabriel were okay, Sam started to panic. He got out of the Impala and walked around the car, taking note of scratches and other things that he could see wrong with the car. He'd probably ruined the entire bottom of the car, and Dean would kill him for it when he got home. He fisted his hands in his hair and closed his eyes, trying not to freak out just yet, when he heard that goddamn horn again, and saw the truck coming after them.

Sam didn't have enough time to act before the truck was upon them. He just stood, frozen in his place and praying that God would have mercy on himself and Gabriel, as the semi pulled to a stop and the driver got out. Gabriel was out of his seatbelt and ready to come to Sam's defense if need be, but in the mean time, he watched. Hoping this was all a mistake.

Sam was praying in his head that things would turn out okay for them as the trucker approached. "Didn't mean to scare you boys," he said, and both Sam and Gabriel gave a sigh of relief after noticing that the voice didn't fit the other trucker. "Just thought I should return this." His hand was out in a friendly gesture, and he was holding what appeared to be a wallet. Sam's wallet. Which he then realized he'd left sitting on the counter at the gas station.

Sam took a few steps forward, meeting the man in the middle, and took his wallet back. "Thanks," he breathed, still trying to clam down from his scare. "I appreciate it, man."

The trucker smiled gently at the two boys and tipped his hat to them. "It's not a problem, kid. Just gotta try to be a little more careful in the future, right?" Sam nodded, and the two parted ways.

Sam motioned for Gabriel to roll down the window so he could fill him in on what was going on before continuing his inspection of the Impala. "He was just giving me back my wallet," he told the other boy in a relieved voice. "He's not trying to kill us!" Sam startled himself into a laugh and passed the thing back through the window for Gabe to hold for a moment when he heard it. A different, deeper blaring truck horn.

Sam and Gabriel looked back just in time to see a black truck plow right through the middle of the other semi, it's horn blaring and smoke coming from both exhaust pipes as it sped towards them.

"GODDAMMIT!" Sam shouted, running back to the driver's side and shoving the key into the ignition and praying for a miracle. "Come on, come on, you stupid piece of shit." he muttered to the car. The engine sputtered and Sam was just about ready to give up and get out to run when it finally turned over. Sam pressed on the gas and the Impala shot forwards towards a gate leading up to a dead end. "FUCK!" Sam and Gabriel shouted, and Sam stepped on the gas once more, barely missing being crushed up under the semi.

Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief as they were getting away from the trucker and their possible death, but it was too soon. Sam was busy paying attention to the psycho behind them and not the road. Gabriel barely had time to yell "SAM!" before they collided with a tree. Sam had hit the brakes and turned the Impala enough that it hit the side as opposed to head on, probably saving their lives, but it broke both windows on the driver's side and cracked the windshield.

"Gabe?" Sam asked, slightly dazed, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," came the reply. "You?"

Sam could feel glass in his forehead and cheek, and blood was coming from somewhere, but other than that, he seemed to be okay. "I'm good." They were just about ready to try to move when they saw headlights coming for them. "FUCK. GABE, MOVE!" Sam pulled the shorter boy as close to him as possible just before the semi hit the Impala, digging the smaller car deeper into the trunk of the tree and off the ground, compressing it around the two. Sam swore as he felt something sharp digging into his side. He couldn't move, he couldn't think or breathe or get them out of this. They were going to die here, trapped in his brother's car, all because of that stupid radio.

Luckily for them, Gabriel was better at thinking in these kinds of situations than Sam. He grabbed the mic, stared right into the windshield of the truck, and shouted, "LISTEN HERE YOU SICK FUCK! WE'RE SORRY, ALRIGHT? IT WAS A STUPID JOKE. WE JUST WANTED TO TRY AND COMBAT SOME BOREDOM, AND WE'RE SORRY."

The pressure on what was left of the Impala lessened and Sam felt relief in his injured side. "A joke?" Came the reply, followed by a menacing chuckle. "Well, so was all of this. Just a joke, boys."

"Pretty fucked up joke." Sam gasped, trying to make sense of the fact that they were still alive.

The semi backed up and the passenger side wheels hit the ground, and Sam and Gabriel held their breath, waiting for what happened next. They watched as the truck turned itself around and left, but they waited a few moments to make sure it was really over before attempting to move.

Sam and Gabriel both had to get out and straighten the car out on the grass before they could drive off, and Sam almost got sick after seeing all of the damage to it. The entire driver's side was scratched and a sad mixture of black and white, the side mirror and the windows were shattered, and the door was bent so badly that it would no longer open.

Gabriel saw the look on Sam's face and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know a guy. He - he lives back in Kansas. He'll fix it for free. The dude owes me anyways." Gabriel glanced up at Sam with a hopeful smile. "I'll fix this, Sam."

Sam let out a breath and looked around for a moment before finally deciding that they were okay enough to drive. He gently got back into the car and brushed the glass off of his seat before sitting down and waiting on his companion.

Gabriel fell back against the seat and closed his eyes, wishing that he never would have picked up the damn radio in the first place. He glanced down at the offensive thing still attached to the bottom of the dash, hardly touched during the incident. He continued watching it as Sam pulled back onto the freeway, trying to think of what to do with it. Finally, after deciding enough was enough, he yanked the CB from the car, and threw the damn thing into the middle of the road without so much as a word.  
________

By the time that they found a place to stop for the night, Sam was hurting pretty bad. He limped out of the car and to the trunk, trying to keep his weight balanced on his right side as opposed to his left. He tried not to wince as Gabriel watched him, offering him a hand if he needed it, and hobbled up to the door.

Sam set his things down on the bed closest to the door and made his way to the bathroom without a word. Gabriel parked himself on the other bed, watching the door with a worried expression on his face. He was embarrassed with himself for how he'd acted the majority of their trip so far, and he could tell that Sam was just about done with him. He exhaled as he thought about what he could do to make up for it all.

Meanwhile, Sam was backed up against the bathroom sink, trying to convince himself that he wasn't as hurt as badly as he'd originally thought. _You can do this_  he told himself. _Just get your shirt off so you can look at it_. It took a few more moments of convincing, but he finally started working at his shirt. He was fine until the fabric caught against one of the pieces of glass in his face, which pulled, and stuck and worked itself deeper into Sam's skin. He yelled, unable to keep the noise inside, and gasped in pain.

"Sam?" Came Gabriel's voice from the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he replied, still trying to get his breath. "Yeah, Gabe."

A beat, and then. "Can I... I know you got hurt pretty bad... Can I help?"

"No, I'm fine. Just stay there."

"Sam, I am helping you out whether you like it or not, but I would like it better if you would just let me do it."

Sam, not having the energy to really argue right now, agreed, and let Gabriel in. The shorter man was holding a first aid kit in his hands, and watching Sam with worry and regret plastered all over his face. "Sam, I'm so sorry, I--"

"Don't worry about it right now, alright? Let's just be thankful we're alive."

Gabriel exhaled, nodded, and told Sam to sit down on the toilet while he checked him over. "This is gonna hurt, you realize that?" With Sam's answering nod, Gabriel dug around in the box and extracted a pair of tweezers and cupped Sam's face in his hand, turning it towards the light. The shorter man worked fast, with the minimum amount of pain that he could manage, and Sam wondered how he could do this so easily. He looked up into Gabriel's eyes, trying to focus on the set of his jaw, the concentration in his eyes, as opposed to the pain. No matter how many times that Sam happened to catch himself staring at them, he never could get used to the bright golden color that was Gabriel's eyes. Like a glass of warm brandy or whiskey in the sunlight. The younger Winchester's breath caught in his throat, and found himself smiling a little, and trying not to lean into the warm touch of Gabriel's hand.

Gabriel, apparently, noticed this, because the concentration left his face and was replaced by confusion. "What's the smiling about, Samsquatch?"

Sam was pulled out of his thoughts and blinked, trying to come up with something to say. "Just happy to be alive." Was what he came up with. "That was... pretty crazy back there."

"You're tellin' me." Gabriel muttered, finally releasing Sam and rummaging around for some bandages. "Now stand up." When Sam started to protest, Gabriel held his hand up to stop him. "Don't think I didn't see your side when I came in here. I'm not letting that get infected. Now. Stand up."

Sam sighed and got to his feet, bracing his arms on the sides of the sink while Gabriel got to work on cleaning the cut. It wasn't as deep as Gabriel originally thought it might be, but it was still deep enough to require stitches. Upon hearing this, Sam decided that he was far too sober for this kind of pain, and Gabriel left the room for a moment and returned with his flask, handing it right to Sam.

Sam took a long swig of whatever was in there and squeezed his eyes shut as he swallowed, the liquid burning his throat on the way down.

_____

When Gabriel had finally finished working on him, it was almost 2 in the morning, Sam was tipsy, and Gabriel was exhausted. The shorter boy helped the taller one out to his bed, gently depositing him onto his mattress, and tucked him in for good measure. In minutes, Sam was asleep and snoring into his pillowcase. Gabriel chuckled to himself at the sight and moved to lay on his own bed, not even bothering to change into his pajamas as he willed sleep to come. He ended up staying up for another hour or two, watching Sam and hating himself for getting him wrapped up in all of his drama, and then almost getting him killed. Gabriel swallowed the lump in his throat, deciding that first thing in the morning, he was telling Sam that he was finding his own way back to Kansas and that he wouldn't bother him anymore.


	3. chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're doing _what_?" Sam asked, watching as Gabriel gathered up his things. "Wait, Gabe... Come on." He jumped up and got in front of the door so the shorter boy couldn't leave. "You don't have to go."

Gabriel hesitated for a moment, looking from Sam's face to the door, and back. He didn't really _want_ to leave, but he couldn't stick around and let Sam get hurt because of him, either. "I... It's better for you if I just leave. My mind's made up."

"Is this about last night?" Gabriel turned his eyes down to the carpet. It was all the answer that Sam needed, and he sighed. "Gabe, that wasn't your fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. That guy was a nutcase." He tried to meet Gabriel's eyes, to let him know he didn't blame him, but the shorter of the two wouldn't look up. "Don't go, please."

Gabriel shook his head. "You're gonna get hurt if I stick around, kiddo. It's better for both of us if I just take off." He tried to reach around behind Sam and get the door, but Sam knocked his hand away.

"What if I don't want you to go?"

"Sam--"

"What if I said I didn't care that we almost died last night? Or that I didn't care that we have some crazy ass trucker after us? Because I don't, Gabe. I would rather you stay than me be safe. Which, by the way, is a crock of horse shit, because he knows my car, and if he wanted to come after me again, he could. And me being by myself would get me killed a lot faster than if you stuck around." This time, Gabriel did look up, and Sam could see the worry in his eyes. "It'll be okay." He promised.

The shorter boy shut his eyes, trying not to open his mouth and say something stupid, and let out a breath. It meant a lot to him that, despite everything that had happened in the last 48 hours, Sam still wanted him around. That he wanted him there enough to fight him. Gabriel gave him a small nod of his head, pushing down what worry he was feeling and telling himself it was stupid, before throwing his stuff back down onto his bed and letting out a breath. "Well, in that case, I'm gonna catch a few more hours. Wake me up when it's lunch time."

Sam laughed to himself as he watched Gabriel flop down onto his mattress and promptly fall asleep only a moment or so after.

______

"So... What's the deal with you and this Jessica girl?" Gabriel asked around a mouth full of a cheeseburger. "Are you two dating, or are you friends, or what?"

"We're friends."

Gabriel chuckled. "Happily, or do you wanna fuck her?"

Sam was startled into a laugh by the remark. "I'm not answering that."

"So you wanna fuck her."

"No, Gabe." Gabriel just cackled and continued on about teasing the younger boy about Jessica, and his apparent hard-on for the girl, until Sam finally snapped. He pulled off to the side of the road, and turned to glare at his companion. "Shut up about Jess." He warned. "There's nothing going on between us, there never has been, and I don't appreciate the way you're talking about her."

Gabriel didn't have much more to say about the subject, just mumbled an apology and turned to look out his window as Sam pulled back onto the freeway. Gabriel was convinced that there was something going on, at least on Sam's end, and the thought made him a little sad, although he didn't know why.

_______

It was close to midnight when they reached the border for California, and Sam was starting to fall asleep at the wheel. After being convinced and helped out of the driver's seat by Gabriel, the older boy took over for awhile since he'd been asleep most of the day anyways. Had Sam been more awake, it never would have happened. If Dean knew Gabriel was behind the wheel of his car, he would have shot them both on the spot, and Sam was in deep enough as it was.

"Wake me up when we get there." Sam mumbled, leaning his head on the window.

Gabriel chuckled. "I don't think we're gonna get there tonight, kiddo. And even if we did, you're not really planning on picking your girlfriend up in the middle of the night, do you? She might not appreciate that too much." He clapped Sam on the shoulder. "First thing tomorrow." He promised.

______

Gabriel finally pulled off at a motel around 3:00 in the morning, happy to know that they would be starting back to Lawrence the next day. They would be going home. _He_ would be going home. Gabriel let out a breath at the thought. He'd be going back to where all his troubles began. But he'd be with his little brother, and the Winchesters this time. Not his father, and his neglect, or his older brothers and their fists. It would be different this time. It would be _better_. He glanced over at the boy sitting beside him and smiled, feeling that relief that Sam wanted him around fill him again.

It had to be the first time in probably 10 years that Gabriel had felt like he had now. Accepted, wanted, and not like a burden placed on someone's shoulders just by existing. Sam had done that, just by being him. Gabriel shook his head, trying to stop that train of thought before it took him somewhere that he knew was a delusion, and shook the younger boy awake. "Sam, we're stopping for the night. Last time, I promise. Tomorrow, you'll be with Jessica, and I can take over the roll of the uncomfortable third wheel/cockblock." He chucked to himself as Sam blinked himself awake, trying to make sense of everything.

"We there?"

"Almost, kiddo. We will be tomorrow. But I'm exhausted, you're exhausted, we need to stop." Gabriel told Sam to stay there while he went inside to pay for a room for the night. Sam nodded, barely comprehending what was going on at this point. All he knew was that he was close to Jessica, possibly close to his new school, and almost halfway done with the trip.

Gabriel came back a moment or so later and opened Sam's door for him, catching the taller boy before he spilled out onto the pavement. "Whoa, watch it there, Sammy." He laughed, righting the younger boy and leading him up to their door. "I'll come back and get our stuff tomorrow morning. We'll only be here a few hours, anyways. Ain't no point." Again, Sam nodded, and Gabriel kept a hand on him until they got inside and he was able to deposit Sam onto his bed.

Gabriel could hear Sam snoring only a few moments later, and hearing it, the steady breathing of Sam, was enough to calm him down enough that he felt he might actually be able to catch a few hours of rest himself. Gabriel slipped off his shoes, set them on the floor, and slipped out of his jeans, folding them on the end of his bed, and crawled under his covers. Gabriel closed his eyes and let his mind wander a little, about what he might do when he got back to Kansas.

____

Two hours later, Gabriel was woken up to the sound of whimpering coming from the next bed. His eyes snapped open and he sat up, looking around for Sam. He found the younger boy in the dark, and saw him thrashing in his sleep. "Sam?" Gabriel called out as Sam yelled and started to cry. "Sam, hey!" Gabriel climbed out of bed and was at the other boy's side almost immediately, pinning his shoulders to the bed and calling out his name. "Sam! Sam, wake up!"

He kept trying for a few moments before Sam finally gasped and shot up, hitting Gabriel in the head with his own and frantically looking around for where he was. "Where - where am I? Gabe? Is that you?" He asked.

Gabriel's hand immediately went to his forehead and he sucked in a quick breath to keep from swearing in pain. "Yeah," he said, his voice calm as he tried to comfort Sam. "Yeah, Sammy, it's me." He smiled. "You'll be with Jess tomorrow."

Sam was still trying to catch his breath as he nodded, and sat up in his bed. He looked around worriedly, eyes darting to the window and back to Gabriel, trying to convince himself he was okay. "Yeah, tomorrow." He gasped. "Are you.... You okay?"

"Yeah, kiddo. And you're okay, too." Gabriel promised. Sam still looked really shaken up, and Gabriel, being Gabriel, decided to go sit with him. "Hey, Sam," he said gently, wrapping his arm around the younger boy, "it's okay. We don't have to worry about that guy anymore. It's done. We're gonna be alright."

Sam closed his eyes and leaned against Gabriel, his hands shaking and his heart racing in his chest. "It... I... I saw him, Gabe. We - we were back up against the tree." He leaned deeper against the older boy, trying not to break down crying, and tried to calm down.

"It's okay, Sam." Gabe promised. "It's done." He rubbed his hand up and down the taller boy's back, trying to sooth him, and hugged him close. "Nothing is going to hurt you anymore." He leaned crawled farther up into Sam's bed and leaned against the wall, letting Sam relax against him. Gabriel rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes, occasionally whispering that they were safe now to calm the young Winchester.

_________

Gabriel woke up at nine the next morning, still in Sam's bed, with the younger boy still leaning against him. Gabriel could feel Sam's head against his shoulder, his breath on his skin, and his hair against his neck. He shouldn't have found it so comforting, he knew that, but he couldn't help it. Sam made him feel safe in a way he hadn't in years. He also knew that they needed to get on the road if they expected to start back home that day. With a sigh, Gabriel woke Sam up and told him what was going on, that they needed to go, and Sam was only too eager to oblige. The younger boy shot up and all but ran out to the impala to get his things, and get dressed. Gabriel walked back to his own bed and pulled his jeans and his shoes back on, starting to feel a little sad about what they were about to do.

He watched Sam buzz around with a new found energy as he brushed his teeth and pulled his jeans on, the smile on his face was bigger than any Gabriel had ever seen come from the other boy. He listened as Sam went on about Jessica, how excited he was to see her, to introduce her to Gabriel, to see Stanford, and maybe end up going there the following year. "I can't wait!" Sam said excitedly.

"I know, kiddo," Gabriel chuckled. "You've told me four times already."

Sam tried to fight off a bit of a blush, but couldn't quite do it. "I can stop if you want?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Nah. It's kinda cute seeing you get all excited like that. It's like a puppy." He ruffled Sam's hair and led the way back out to the car, trying to keep his attitude from going sour.

_____

Sam let Gabriel be in charge of the directions as he drove, still going on about Jessica, and college, and everything that they were going to stop and do on the way back. It seemed the previous night had been completely forgotten, and that eased Gabriel's mind a little. If Sam had forgotten about it that easily, maybe he could too. He listened to every word that Sam was saying, just liking to hear him talk. He occasionally asked questions about Jessica, and Sam would eagerly answer everything with a smile.

When they finally arrived at the school, it seemed almost like Sam's breath was taken from him. He leaned against the car, looking around at everything and soaking it up like a sponge. Gabriel thought about what would happen if Sam did end up out here for school, how much it would suck to have him so far away. If nothing else, Gabriel had hoped that maybe they would come out of this thing as friends, that maybe he could actually say that he /had/ a friend outside of Castiel.

Sam bounded his way up to the dorms, asking around if anybody had seen Jessica Moore that day, or if they knew where she was, and when he finally got a lead, grabbed Gabriel by the arm and dragged him along for the ride. When they got to the hallway that her room was at the end of, Sam stopped and turned to the older Novak. "Do I look okay?" He asked, his face full of nervous energy.

"You look fine, Sam." Gabriel replied, "But you might want to do something about your hair. It's a little windblown." Sam immediately started getting to work on fixing the mess as he walked, Gabriel following behind.

Sam knocked at the door and poked his head in, and Gabriel could basically see the smile peeking through the back of his head. "Jess!" Sam exclaimed as he stepped inside, and that was followed by an excited squeal and a cry of "Sam!"

When Gabriel poked his head inside, Sam was embracing a pretty blond girl with a friendly smile and the most gorgeous eyes Gabriel had ever seen. Next to Sam's that was. One look at the two of them, and Gabriel could see that was who was meant for Sam. There was no contest about it. Especially when he was the competition. He smiled at the two of them and cleared his throat to break them apart, giving an awkward wave of his hand when they looked back.

Sam pulled back from Jess and took a couple steps towards the older boy, his arm out in a bit of an introduction. "Jess, this is my friend Gabe. He - uh... He's Cas's older brother."

Gabriel waved again and stuck his hand out to shake one of Jessica's, a too big smile plastered across his face. "Hi, name's Gabe. I came along for the job of making sure Sammy here keeps it in his pants." At this comment, Sam's face turned blood red and he stared down at the floor, mumbling to himself that he had no intentions of that, and Jessica and Gabriel both laughed.

Jessica barely gave Sam a chance to calm down before gathering up a box and starting for the door. "Do you guys mind helping me get my stuff out to the car?" Gabriel and Sam both shook their heads and grabbed a couple themselves.

"She seems nice." Gabriel whispered to Sam on the way down. "I think she'll be good for you, kiddo." Sam opened his mouth to speak, but nothing but a small attempt at a denial came out. "I'm serious, Sam." Sam just ducked his head and quickened his pace, trying to hurry and get his box to the car before Gabriel could say something else to embarrass him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessica gave Sam a tour around campus before they left, and Sam was hanging onto every little bit of it. Gabriel could practically see him in the fall, filling out a transfer application. Not that he could really blame him, Stanford was great, and it was perfect for Sam, but Gabriel would miss him.

As they were heading back to the Impala, a silver Corvette pulled up beside them and parked. A girl with curly brown hair stepped out and embraced Jessica. "You better be careful out there this summer," she told her in an English accent.

"I will be! You have fun back across the pond." Jess turned to the boys, her arm around her friend's waist, and introduced them. "This is my friend Bela, she's going to be my roommate next year."

Bela introduced herself to the boys, and Gabriel could tell that Sam was intrigued by this girl as much as he was Jessica. He could tell by the way his face lit up with that stupid, dorky smile and by how fast his pupils dilated. Gabriel snorted and folded his arms across his chest while leaning against the Impala. The girls stayed there and talked for a moment, before an angry student pulled up behind Bela's car and honked on their horn for her to move. They shared a quick goodbye, and then the trio was off.

Gabriel had tried to keep an open mind to the Jessica thing, and it was working until they got to the car and Sam demoted him to the back seat. It hurt his pride a little knowing that after everything they'd been through the last few days, he could be forgotten about that quickly. Gabriel crawled in the back with his stuff and sat behind Jessica, his eyes on the window and his mind a hundred miles away and back in Kansas with his brother, imagining what he would say as an apology when he got home. It worked wonders on blocking out the love birds, and it put him at ease a little to be thinking of something productive and not on how happy Sam looked while he listened to the girl talk.

Gabriel ended up falling asleep with an Oscar-worthy monologue of an apology in his head, and jealousy towards Sam and Jessica's friendship in his heart. He knew it was just him being stupid, that he should have expected that this would happen. Sam had known Jessica pretty much since they were kids and they had history, whereas he was only a temporary fixture in the younger Winchester's life. In and out of Kansas and jail, and he could only imagine some of the things Cas had said about him behind his back. Gabriel really shouldn't have expected much in the way of friendship, but the last couple days had meant more to him than the last 10 years of his life, and it was all because of Sam.

He was awoken to a punch in the arm a few hours later. Gabriel opened his eyes and saw Sam half turned around in his seat, and grinning at him. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." He snorted, laughing as the older boy glared up at him. "We're hungry. And we didn't feel like leaving the windows rolled down for you."

"Yeah," Jessica added. "We didn't feel like being nice today."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and sat up, stretching his back as best as he could in the seat, and opened his door. "Well I don't care what you do, but one of you is buying me lunch for the emotional trauma that came from this." He could hear Sam laughing from somewhere behind him and it brought a smile to Gabriel's face. He liked that sound a little too much for his own good, he decided.

____

"...I met Jess in middle school. It was at a dance. We - uh.... We both were there alone, and she came up to me and asked if I wanted to dance." Sam said in response to a question from Gabriel. There was a light blush in his cheeks, and an adoring smile on his face as he spoke, and Gabriel couldn't help but find himself grinning right along with him.

"He was so embarrassed. I walked up to him and asked, and he just sputtered at me for a minute before finally giving up and nodding. And then he gets up and he's like... five foot ten inches of pure awkward." Jessica giggled, chancing a look at Sam. "It was adorable." Gabriel chuckled, not taking his eyes away from the younger Winchester, watching his face, and shook his head. "Now, Gabriel, how did you meet Sam?"

Gabriel finally turned, and his expression turned from fond to teasing in a matter of a half of a second. "Because of our brothers." He answered. "Dean and Cassie went to school together. And when they first met, Cas hated Dean-o's guts, because Dean would pick on him at school. Then one day, Dean and Sam's mom died, Cas found Dean sitting alone in the library barely holding it together, and just sat down to talk to him. Ever since then, they've been inseparable." He smirked then, and nodded his head towards Sam. "How Sammy and I fit into the picture... I found my baby brother mackin' on Dean-o in our house one afternoon, and after that, we decided that it was time to meet the family. So, Cas and I went over to Dean's one night for a dinner, and I met Sam, and the rest is history."

Jessica wore a confused expression as she looked at Gabriel, not knowing the rest of this story, and turned to Sam. "What's the rest?"

"The rest, dear Jessica, is that shortly after that, I ended up gettin' kicked out after trying to keep Cassie from getting the shit knocked out of him at the hands of our dear old dad. Cas and Dean moved out and got a place of their own, and I've been in and out of the pen for one stupid reason or another. I'd still be there now if Sam didn't come spring me out." It was hard for Gabriel to keep the shame out of his voice, but he managed.

"Why were you in jail?" Jessica asked.

Gabriel hesitated for a moment before answering, not knowing if he should really come clean or not, but one quick look at Sam and the curiosity in his eyes broke him. "I uh... It's been a number of different things. Couple times for DUI's, couple a times for vandalism, once for drugs..." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in his seat, trying to play it off as no big deal. Sam and Jessica said nothing, and Gabriel sighed. "I don't use anymore, if you're wondering. I'm completely clean."

It still didn't seem to help much, so Gabriel stopped trying. The way that they looked at him after that, it made Gabriel feel dirty, and brought back a lot of the self loathing that haunted him when he was younger and Castiel would look at him like this. Gabriel cleared his throat and excused himself for a moment to go to the bathroom, half expecting Sam and Jessica to get up and leave without him. He couldn't say he would blame them, honestly. He'd leave himself too.

Gabriel clutched the sides of the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. For someone as young as he was, he looked like he'd lived a thousand years. the lines in his cheeks were those of a man of forty, the bags under his eyes were dark purple, as though he hadn't slept in weeks, and the wrinkles on his forehead were deep with worry and sadness. He also noticed that when he released the porcelain of the sink that his hands shook. He only wondered what that was from; the need of a drink, or a hit, or of his own embarrassment and nervousness.

With a deep sigh, Gabriel turned on the sink and splashed a bit of water onto his face, hoping to wake himself up some and get a grip. He was 22 for God's sake, he shouldn't have felt like this. Gabriel shook his head and looked at himself again. _Pull it together, Novak,_ he thought to himself.

"Hey, Gabe," came a voice from the door. Sam poked his head inside, his expression worried as he looked at him, and then stepped in. "Are you okay, man? You've been in here awhile."

Gabriel swallowed and sucked in a quick breath before turning to Sam with a haggard smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, kiddo. Just got a little light headed. Don't worry so much." He stepped away from the mirror and gestured for Sam to lead the way back out, and Gabriel shot Jessica the same smile when she was in view.

"Are we ready, then?" Sam asked, grabbing the bill and starting for the counter.

"Sam, wait." Gabriel reached into his back pocket for a $10 and handed it to Sam. "It's for breakfast. I don't want to make you pay for it." He said insistently. He didn't take his eyes away from the younger boy until Sam finally accepted and left. Gabriel leaned back against the table with his hands in his pockets and a frown tugging at his lips.

Jessica chewed on her bottom lip while she thought of something to say. "Gabriel, I'm sorry if we made you feel bad. I just... I wasn't expecting that. I'm sorry."

Gabriel turned to look at the young girl and shot her another half-smile. "Don't sweat it, kid. I'm used to it."

That did nothing to ease Jessica's mind, but she dropped the subject and started picking at her nails until Sam returned. Gabriel led the way out of the diner without a word to anyone, and dropped himself into the back seat when they got to the car.

_____

Gabriel decided to treat the three of them to a drink, and made Sam pull into a bar at nearly 10:00 that night. He instructed the two to find a more secluded place to sit, and Gabriel treated them to a round of tequila. And then another, and another, and another. After four, Sam was done, seeing as he would have to be the one to drive them, but Jessica and Gabriel kept drinking until they could barely stand up.

"I'm gonna... I'm gonna see if I can't talk the bartender into giving me another shot!" Jessica giggled, stumbling out of the booth and up to the bar. Sam watched her, worried about the others that were up there and what they would do. He watched as Jess put on her best flirty face, leaning over the counter with her arms folded in a way that made her breasts pop out more, and waved the man over. Sam could see a tall, gruff looking hickish man watching her, and it made his stomach roll.

The man grinned at his friends and slid his slimy self farther down to get a better look at the young girl, and put a hand on her arm. "What are you doing out here all by yourself, dollbaby?" He asked her.

Jessica turned and pulled her arm away, her expression sobering some. "None of your business," she said quietly.

"I asked you a question." The man told her, taking a step closer.

"And I said it's none of your business." Jessica's voice rose, and after Sam saw the look on the guy's face, he got up and and decided to step in.

"Is there a problem here?" Sam asked, trying to look as menacing as possible.

"This your little bitch?" The man slurred. "You need to teach your bitch some manners."

"And you need to learn how to treat a woman with respect. You understand that word?" Sam spit.

Gabriel had been watching the whole thing, and after Sam made his last comment, and got to his feet. "Bitch!" He shouted, running over and grabbing Jessica by the arm. "What'd I tell you about runnin' off, huh!?" He shook his head and pulled the younger girl away from the bar, shooting an apologetic look at the men. "Sorry 'bout that, gentlemen. I keep tellin' her to stay put, she don't listen worth a damn. Come on, Linda Lou!"

Gabriel kept muttering to Jessica on the way out, waiting until they were out the door before releasing her and chuckling at her. "Nice moves back there, kiddo." He told her. "But next time, leave the drinks to me, alright?"

Sam all but ran out the door, and was at Jessica's side in an instant. "Are you okay?" He asked, placing a gentle hand on her arm. "They didn't hurt you, did they?" When Jessica shook her head, Sam led her back to the car, his arm around her shoulders and a protective look on his face. He helped her into the car and glared back at Gabriel, almost as if he wanted to leave him there.

Gabriel waited for a moment, hating that he did what he did but knowing he had to do it, before finally making his way back to the car and climbing in the front seat. Jessica was about wasted, and they decided she should probably lay down.

_____

Sam waited until they were far down the road before attempting to speak. "What the fuck was that back there?!" He shouted at Gabriel. "Seriously, Gabe! What? Did you think I couldn't handle myself back there?"

"I was keeping you from getting you ass handed to you!" Gabriel snapped back. "The last thing, the absolute /last/ thing I need is for us to get home with you sporting a broken rid. I've got enough strikes against me with Dean as it is, the last thing I need is for him to find a reason to keep me from seeing my brother. And you coming home like that would be it."

"Do you really think my brother would do something like that? Do you really have that low of an opinion of him? Nice, Gabe! Really nice. If you're gonna act like this, then maybe he should."

Gabriel shook his head and clenched his jaw. "I know he has Cas's best interests at heart. He wants him to keep him from any unnecessary pain and/or drama. And if he thinks that I might be causing it, then you better believe he'd keep him away. I would."

Sam continued yelling at him for a moment, but Gabriel tuned it out and turned to the window.

 _Look_ Gabriel noticed was sprayed across one of the exit signs on the freeway. He sat up a little straighter, and focused his eyes on the road as Sam yelled.

 _In the_ Was written on another.

 _Trunk_ Gabriel swallowed and clenched his hand on the handle of the door.

 _Sam_. "Sam stop the car!" Gabriel shouted back, and it startled Sam enough that he did. Sam was slammed against the steering wheel, Gabe against his seatbelt, and they could hear a crash as Jessica hit the floor. Gabriel was out the door and heading to the back of the car before Sam could ask what was wrong, and yelled for him to pop the trunk.

Sam did as was told and then hopped out, asking Gabriel what the deal was, and headed back with him. He could hear Gabriel muttering something to himself and looked inside, and the younger boy's breath caught in his throat.

Waiting for them in the trunk was a shining, deadly, and menacing CB radio. Sam fisted his hands in his hair and exhaled, trying to make sense of it.

"What are we gonna do?" Gabriel asked, his voice full of panic.

"How'd he even know?"

"Back there," Gabriel replied. "There were words painted across the signs. 'Look in the trunk, Sam'. S'why I made you stop."

Sam swore, took the radio out, and shakily put it in the car. Thankfully, Jessica wasn't coherent enough to realize what was going on, and the boys wordlessly sat down and Sam pulled back onto the road. They didn't say anything else until they got pulled into the motel, and Gabriel went to pay for their rooms while Sam helped Jessica into hers.

The younger boy was taking her things up to her when Gabriel finished up, and with a sigh, he realized that Jessica was who Sam deserved. As he previously discussed with himself, they had known each other for years, and Jessica, as far as he knew, had never been thrown in jail. It hurt him to think about it, but he knew nothing would ever come of himself and Sam Winchester, and he decided to put this entire issue to bed before it got out of hand.

_____

"Hey Sam, you wanna watch a porno?" Gabriel asked as Sam brushed his teeth. Sam muttered something, and Gabriel took it as a yes, and he put one on that he knew neither of them would pay attention to. "The entertainment for this evening is Casa Erotica 12. Hope that's okay." Again, Sam muttered something and flopped down onto his bed, and in mere minutes Gabriel heard him snoring.

He decided it was time to act. Gabriel shut the movie off and changed it to a local station in case Sam woke up, and Gabriel slipped out the door, out to a vending machine to something that might settle Jessica's stomach, and then headed off to the younger girl's room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to do. Shit got busy with the fourth, and then my birthday. Hope you guys enjoy!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  

Gabriel took a breath and knocked on the door, nervousness seeping out of every pore of his body while he waited. He could hear shuffling coming from the other side, and a moment later, Jessica answered wearing a pair of boy shorts and a Smurf t-shirt that exposed her midriff. "Gabriel!" She exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Gabriel held up a bottle of 7-Up out to her, and wiggled his eyebrows. "Thought you might want something to keep yourself hydrated with in case you happen to throw up tonight. How you feeling?"

Jessica shifted her weight and stared down at the older boy, shrugging her shoulders. "Alright so far, I guess."

They fell into silence for an awkward silence for a moment, Jessica not knowing what to do and Gabriel not knowing how to approach the subject, before Gabriel finally gathered his nerve and spoke. "I... I wanted to talk to you about Sam." He explained.

"What about him?"

Gabriel sighed and gestured to her room. "Can I come in?" Jessica thought for a moment before finally moving aside and allowing Gabriel to step inside. He leaned against the wall, still not exactly sure what to say, and watched Jessica for a moment. "He's crazy about you, you know?" He told her quietly. "Like, head-over-heels crazy about you."

"O..kay... Gabriel, what is this--"

"Just... please, be good to him, Jess. Don't hurt him." Gabriel couldn't exactly keep the pleading out of his voice. "He's a good kid. And you make him so happy. Don't..."

Jessica raised an eyebrow at Gabriel and studied him, thinking she understood what this was about. "Do you have feelings for Sam?"

Gabriel started trying to deny it, but he felt like he could trust Jessica with this, and eventually he just nodded, almost feeling ashamed of himself. "I... Feel something for him. I've never met anyone like him, Jess. He... When he first showed up, he acted like he wanted nothing to do with me, but after awhile..." He looked up at her, his eyes bright with emotion, and whispered. "For the first time in years, Sam actually makes me feel /wanted/. Not in a sexual way, but in a real, emotional way. Like he actually wants me around. And I know it's fast, and this is probably nothing, but God..." Gabriel knew he was rambling, but once he got started he couldn't bring himself to stop. "I know nothing is going to happen. I'm not stupid. He's in love with you. But I can't help it."

Jessica patted the bed and scooted over so Gabriel could come sit down. "You don't have anything to worry about, Gabriel." She promised. "Sam is just a good friend of mine. I don't feel that way about him. Besides that, I have a boyfriend back home." She put a hand on Gabriel's arm and smiled at him reassuringly. "And you're right, Sam is a good guy. And he's lucky to have a friend like you looking out for him."

"In a way, I almost wish he would have stayed cold." Gabriel admitted. "Because this sucks. But at the same time, I wouldn't trade the last few days for anything in the world. It's meant more to me than the last ten years of my life." Gabriel smiled to himself and shook his head. "It's so stupid, I know it is. I hardly know him. And he could do better than me. So, so much better."

Jessica just listened to Gabriel talk, letting him get it out, and occasionally offered a helpful or encouraging word when she felt it was needed. "He might surprise you someday, Gabe." She said eventually. "Sam hasn't ever specified on his sexuality. Granted, he's not really been asked, but when he has, he deflects the question..." She glanced at the older boy again, and pulled him in for a hug. "Don't give up completely."

They continued talking about Sam for most of the night, and when they finally switched the topic, Gabriel felt a lot better about himself. Jessica had promised him that he wasn't a horrible person for what he felt, that it wasn't wrong, or immoral, and that just because he'd made a few mistakes in his past didn't mean that marked who he would be in the future. Gabriel was thankful for everything she said; it meant a lot to him that she was taking the time to say it.

"So, tell me about your boyfriend." Gabriel eventually said.

Jessica laughed at him and pulled her wallet out of her bag, pulling out a small photograph of a blond haired boy with a baby face and big blue eyes. He was wearing a red and white work uniform with a hat, and a huge smile. "His name is Alfie," she said, handing Gabriel the picture.

"Alfie?" Gabriel snorted.

"Yes, and he's one of the sweetest people you'd ever meet." She said defensively.

Gabriel chuckled. "But still... _Alfie_?"

Jessica laughed and shoved him in the shoulder.

_____

Sam woke up sometime around 2:00 in the morning due to a nightmare and an empty room. He was sweating and scared, and what he really wanted was Gabriel to come to him like he had the night before and stay with him. Sam fell back against his pillow and ran a hand through his hair, wondering where Gabriel had gotten to.

He didn't have long to think about it, because as soon as he was getting ready to lay back down, the phone rang and startled him back awake. "Hello?" He breathed into the receiver.

"I thought you said there wasn't a girl?"

The blood ran from Sam's face and he gripped the phone tightly in his hand. "There isn't."

"That's funny, because I seem to recall seeing your boyfriend heading over to her room earlier this evening."

Sam fell silent for a moment and breathed deeply, waiting for the trucker to say something to him, and when he didn't decided to say something himself. "I thought you said you were going to leave us alone?"

"Well, you see... That was another joke. The fun's just getting started, Sam."

After that, the line went dead, and Sam was left in shock for a moment. He slammed the phone down and trudged out into the night for Jessica's room, and let himself in. He found Gabriel and Jessica laughing on her bed, and had just a moment to wonder what the fuck was going on before starting to panic. "We need to leave right now." He told them.

"What?" Jessica said, getting to her feet. "No, I already paid for this room."

"Jess, you have to trust me." Sam told her. "I was asleep in the room, and woke up and the phone started ringing and it was the guy." He looked at Gabriel. "It was him, he said he knew there was a girl, and that you were here with her. Which, is a really, really good thing to wonder about."

Gabriel looked up at Sam and he saw the look in his eyes, and he immediately thought he understood. "This isn't what it looks like," he promised.

"Then what is it, Gabe?"

Gabriel looked from Sam to Jessica and then back, shaking his head. "Sam, I promise I will explain this to you later, but if you're serious about him calling you, then we need to get out of here. Now."

Sam hesitated for a moment, looking back and forth between the two of them again, before deciding it really wasn't worth the trouble right now and nodding. He turned to Jessica and gave her a desperate look. "You need to pack right now."

"And what about you two?" Jessica asked.

Sam shared a look with Gabriel and Gabe could see that the younger boy wasn't exactly too happy with the situation, and he decided to try to help better it. "I'll go pack our stuff. Stay with Jess." Gabriel walked passed Sam and out the door, taking a careful look around before deciding it was safe to sprint to their room and lock the door behind him. Gabriel threw everything into their bags as quickly as he could, hoping nothing was getting mixed up, and then hurried down to the counter to check back out.

After that, he went back to collect Sam and Jess, and the three of them hit the road once again. When they were a few miles down the interstate, Sam turned to Gabe and instructed him to hook the CB up. Gabriel obliged, and not five minutes went by before the familiar voice greeted them. "Hello, Sam." It said.

Sam ripped the mic from Gabriel's hands and started yelling at the trucker, but Gabriel blocked it out. His gaze shifted from Sam, to Jessica in the back, to the road, and then Sam all over again. He could feel his heartbeat in his throat, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep. Gabriel was running on nothing but adrenaline and wanting to keep Sam safe at this point. He considered closing his eyes for a bit while they were driving, but the fear of getting slammed into by the semi again kept him awake.

Sam finally got pissed off enough to finish up, and threw the mic down onto the floor somewhere. Things got quiet for awhile after that, the only sound they were able to hear was Sam's erratic breathing until it eventually slowed back to normal.

"So..." Jessica started eventually, scooting to the middle of the back seat and leaning her arms on the back of the front, "does somebody want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?"

Gabriel's eyes flickered to Sam in the dark and he swallowed, figuring that he should probably the one to explain. He took a breath before launching into the story of everything that had happened the last few days, and finished long before Sam finally felt it was safe to stop for the night. And that was putting it loosely. The sun was starting to come up by the time they pulled off, but Sam thought it would be safer for them to sleep for a little while during the day than at night; there was a better chance of someone seeing something if they were going to be attacked.

This time, they got one room, and Sam and Jessica doubled up while Gabriel had one to himself. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards Jessica for being the one wrapped up in Sam's arms like that, but it wasn't a big deal. The older boy settled in, his eyes settling on Sam's back as something to focus on while he drifted off.

____

Gabriel was awoken not two hours later to the sound of Sam whimpering in his sleep. He opened his eyes and got out of bed, moving over to Sam's and shaking his shoulder to wake him up. "Sam," he whispered, trying to be gentle so not to wake Jessica too. "Sam, it's okay. You're just dreaming."

Sam's eyes flew open and he looked up at Gabriel, panic clear on his face, and breathing shallow and unsteady. Gabriel stayed there for a moment, hardly daring to move until Sam calmed down some, and then turned to go back to his own bed, but Sam grabbed his hand. "Gabe..." He hesitated for a moment, almost looking embarrassed. "Will you... Will you stay here? Please?"

Gabriel, for the life of him, couldn't say no, no matter how inviting his own bed looked at the moment. "Of course, Sammikins." The older boy sat on the floor right beside Sam, not letting go of his hand, and leaned his head against the mattress as a makeshift pillow. "Don't worry, okay? I'll be right here. Go back to sleep for a bit."

It took Sam a bit, but he did slip back into sleep, but it wasn't deep like it was before. Gabriel leaned his head against Sam's hip and closed his eyes, the younger boy's hand still clutched in his, hoping to at least get a little more rest before they were off again. _I'm sorry_ , Gabriel thought to himself, watching Sam sleep. _I never should have gotten you into this._ His eyes eventually started to droop, and Gabe found himself dozing again.

______

They didn't rise again until sometime in the late afternoon, and all three of them were starving. They decided to drive down the road a little ways before stopping, hoping to put some distance between them and Hell's Angel. Gabriel had hoped the trucker had stopped for the night after the last time he spoke to them, but it wasn't likely. He probably had followed them all the way to the motel, and had been watching them the entire morning. The thought about made Gabriel sick.

They were just about to pull off when static came across the radio, and the trucker's voice filled the car. "I want the three of you to do something for me." It said. "In a couple miles, you'll see an exit with an advertisement for a diner called Eve's. I want you to pull off, and for you boys to go inside. I want you to order six cheeseburgers each."

Sam and Gabriel shared a look, and Gabriel raised an eyebrow at Sam, not entirely trusting this. "And what if we don't?" Gabriel asked.

"Then your little friend here is going to find out what it feels like when 40 tons of steel drives over you." The three of them could hear someone screaming in the background. "Jessica, please! Help me!" The second voice cried.

Jessica's breath caught in her throat and she whimpered, closing her eyes. "That's Bela. He has Bela. He's gonna kill her. Sam! He's gonna kill her!"

Gabriel shook his head and grabbed the mic. "No he's not." He assured Jessica before pressing down on the button. "What's the catch here?" He asked.

"The two of you are going in naked as the day you were born."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I can't believe we're doing this." Gabriel said as he undressed in the front seat of the car. "I don't want to do this."

"Now you'll see what it feels like to be the butt of the joke." Came Hell's Angel's voice from the radio.

"Neither do I," Sam replied, "but..." He glanced at Jessica out of the corner of his eyes and sighed. "It's our fault Bela was taken. We should at least try."

Gabriel stared at Sam, shaking his head and sighing, before leaning back in his seat and unbuckling his pants. Sam took off his shirt, and Gabriel looked away, trying to convince himself that he wasn't going to start blushing, and that this was not the time to objectify the younger boy. He discarded his own shirt and kicked off his boots, opening the car door and standing beside it as he worked himself out of his pants and boxers.

Sam's head appeared on the other side of the car and Gabe could hear the shuffling of denim as Sam removed his own pants, and the older boy could feel heat rising in his cheeks. They were doing this. They were actually doing this. He cupped himself in his hands and walked around to the other side of the car to face Sam, trying to keep his eyes focused on his face, and took the first few steps ahead of Sam.

Gabriel was suddenly hit with a wave of self-consciousness, which grew more prominent with every step he took. His thighs jiggled a little when he walked, and he was paler than pale from the neck down with a soft tummy that pudged out just enough to be noticeable. He only wished Sam wasn't paying attention to him; he could only imagine what he looked like from behind.

The shorter boy closed his eyes and tried to push those thoughts away; this wasn't the time or place to be thinking of such things. Instead, he turned his attention to the task at hand. Gabriel rehearsed what he planned to say when they got inside, and kept repeating it to himself in a mantra that worked on keeping his mind busy... Until he got the full effect of seeing a very nude Samuel Winchester in front of him.

Gabriel had reached the front door of the diner, and made the mistake of turning around to see if Sam was coming. He was met with a pretty muscular chest for someone who looked so lanky with a shirt on. Sam was tanned, and toned, and completely gorgeous and Gabriel couldn't help but stare for a second. Which didn't escape Sam's attention, apparently, because the younger boy started blushing up a storm when he noticed Gabe's eyes on him.

Gabriel was once again hit with the thought that compared to Sam, he looked like a little tub of lard, and that right there would be enough, in better circumstances, to make Sam choose someone who was better looking than he was. Gabriel opened the door and tried not to let the shocked looks from the diners get to him. He and Sam both held their heads high and walked up to the counter, their minds on their goal, and sat down on the bar stools.

"Twelve cheeseburgers, please." Sam mumbled, not taking his eyes away from the waitress at the counter. Gabriel's eyes were shut, his cheeks flaming red, and hating that he allowed himself to get talked into this.

The waitress looked between the two of them, then over the bar, then back up to Sam, before saying, "No shoes, no shirt, no service. Now get out before I have you thrown out."

Gabriel gladly got to his feet and all but sprinted out of the diner, Sam on his heels, and were back at the car in ten seconds flat. Gabriel immediately got to work on covering himself, more than a little relieved when his clothes were back on and Sam didn't have to look at him anymore. Gabriel turned his attention to the window while Sam dressed, wanting to give him a little privacy after what happened back there, and closed his eyes.

Both boys were completely humiliated, and nobody said much as they got back onto the road. In reality, all Sam and Gabriel wanted to do was either find Bela before Hell's Angel was able to kill her, or hide under a rock for the rest of their lives. The latter seemed the better option at the moment.

They felt defeated. They were basically sitting ducks until the next time the trucker decided to contact them. The three ended up finding a shaded spot at a truck stop to rest for a little while, and Gabriel traded Jessica seats so he could lay down without disturbing her too much.

As he drifted off, he thought he could hear the two friends talking, maybe pick out his name here and there, but he wasn't sure, and just decided he was already starting to dream.

______

He was awoken just a couple hours later to the sound of static over the radio, and sat straight up as they could hear Bela screaming. "Jess!" She yelled. "He's gonna kill me. Help!"

"Bel," Jessica said quietly into the mic. "We're gonna find you. Don't worry. I promise."

"If you want to see your friend alive, meet me just across the border at the beginnings of the cornfield at midnight. Walk 100 feet away from the car, and she'll be waiting there." Came the trucker's voice from the CB.

The three shared a look, and one glance at Jessica's face was a decider enough for Sam. He threw the car in reverse, backed out of the truck stop, and pushed it on the road, breaking the speed limit by at least ten miles.

"Sam!" Gabriel shouted, leaning up and looking at the younger boy. "What are you doing?! You don't know what's waiting for us out there! This could be a trap! He could kill us." _He could kill you_ Gabriel added mentally.

"It's worth the risk." Sam replied. "If there's any chance that we can save her, it's worth it."

"Goddammit, Sam! This isn't time to play hero! This is time to sit down and think about this seriously for a minute!"

"What is there to think about, Gabe? Bela is out there, she's scared to death, and we have the power to bring her home. I'm not gonna pass that up because you're scared!"

Gabriel opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again after realizing nothing he could say would change Sam's mind, so he shut it and leaned back into his seat to sulk.

_______

Gabriel didn't say a lot during the rest of the drive. He simply sat in the back, thinking to himself about something he could do to get Sam and Jess out of there in case this went south. Maybe he could trade himself for Bela. After all, he was the one who caused this, he was the one who made Sam prank Hell's Angel in the first place. It was more than a fair trade.

The older Novak sighed and leaned his head on the window, figuring that if he had to trade himself, that they wouldn't come after him like this. He wouldn't blame them, honestly. There wasn't much about him except a track record that could stretch around the earth at least once. He abandoned his baby brother when he needed him most, gave him up in favor of booze and drugs. He didn't deserve to be saved. Just in case, Gabriel reached into his bag and pulled out a couple stray pieces of paper and a pen, and decided to write a couple letters. One to Sam, and one to Cas.

_____

Gabriel was just putting the finishing touches on Castiel's letter when the car lurched to a stop, and Sam backed up, pulling off the road into the grass at the edge of a cornfield. He hurried and signed off, stuffing both letters into his pocket in hopes he could sneak them to Sam or Jess if he needed to.

Sam was the first one out, followed by Jess, then finally Gabriel himself. They walked the hundred feet, but weren't met with Bela, as they were told. Instead, they heard the blaring of a truck horn, and then the semi crashed through the stalks of corn, and plowed right into the Impala. The air went from Sam's lungs as he watched it happen, his eyes wide and shocked and his hands in his hair, and he almost sunk to his knees.

Jessica was trying to get Sam back together, and Gabriel was watching the truck. It was turning, and it was heading right for them. "RUN!" Gabriel shouted, grabbing both Sam and Jessica's hands and running into the field. He could hear the vehicle behind them, gaining on them, and Gabriel's heart pounded in his chest. He prayed to God that they would make it out of tonight alive, but without a car, they were as good as dead.

All of the sudden, Gabriel felt Jessica's hand slip from his and when he looked back, she was on the ground, yelling at them to go. The headlights were shining right on them, and Jessica crawled away, into another row, while Sam and Gabe continued running forward. Then Sam ran ahead, and pulled Gabriel off to the other side, and ran as fast as he could, trying to put some distance between them and the trucker.

They heard the semi stop in the middle of the row, and then the sound of a door opening, then the cornfield was illuminated by two giant floodlights on the top of the rig. Sam crouched low, Gabriel in front of him and half shielded by his body, and his breathing was ragged and shallow as they waited for the inevitable.

Ten seconds....

Twenty seconds....

Thirty seconds....

Finally, they heard the sound of someone screaming and crying for help. Sam came out of his crouch, getting ready to shout for Jessica, but Gabriel reached up, slapping his hand over Sam's mouth and desperately shaking his head. He couldn't lose Sam. Not right now. They heard the engine start back up and the rig backed out of the cornfield. Sam and Gabriel waited for a moment before finally walking back out and to the wreckage of the impala.

"Sam...."

"Don't tell me you can fix it." Sam said thickly. "Not right now."

Gabriel bit his lip and laid a hand on Sam's shoulder before brushing the glass off the seat and climbing into the car through the passenger side window. Sam opened his door and dropped into the seat, and carefully pulled out into the road once again. "I can get it fixed." Gabriel said anyways. "Next time we stop, I'll call a friend of mine. He'll get it towed out to his shop, and we'll pick it up on the way home."

"And how are we gonna _get_ home, Gabe?" Sam snapped.

"I...." Gabriel swallowed and shook his head, letting out a breath. "I don't know. But we're going home. All of us. I promise, Sam." He only wished he had the confidence that was in his voice. Gabriel honestly didn't know if they would get the girls back or not. He hoped so, of course, but he wasn't sure. He wouldn't put anything past Hell's Angel at this point, and he knew he and Sam would have to act fast if they expected to see Jessica and Bela alive again.

He only wished he knew what to do.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>  

Sam and Gabriel drove for awhile, not saying anything, and just waiting. For something, anything, that would tell them where Jessica was, if she was okay, or if she was dead already. Sam drove until he was exhausted and falling asleep at the wheel, and then let Gabriel drive for a long while. Gabriel pretty much just went in circles, not wanting to get too far away from the border, and the last time they saw Jess, but not wanting to be sitting ducks either.

Eventually, Gabriel pulled off to the side of the road, too tired to continue going. He thought maybe they could both get a little bit of sleep without being too far from the radio, in case something happened. He looked over at Sam, who was sleeping soundly against the window, and almost left him there, but didn't like the risk of one of his legs hitting the gearshift while he slept. So, Gabriel shook him awake.

"Sam," Gabriel whispered. "I had to pull over. I'm exhausted. Let's try to get some sleep, alright?" Sam nodded, and both boys made sure the doors were locked before climbing into the back and going to their respective sides of the car for some sleep.

Gabriel was once again woken up not too long afterwards to the sound of Sam mumbling urgently in his sleep. The older Novak crawled across the seat, shaking Sam awake and putting his arm around him. "It's okay, Sam." he whispered, pressing a kiss to the younger boy's forehead. "You're fine." He repeated the process until Sam finally stopped making noise and was just breathing against him. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

However, it didn't stop the shaking. No matter what Gabriel did, what he said, it wouldn't stop Sam from shaking. So he just sat there with him in the dark, holding him, trying to offer some means of comfort to the younger boy. Eventually, it seemed like Sam was relaxing some, which was a relief to Gabriel. Maybe they could both get some sleep tonight after all.

"S-She... She talked to me," Sam whispered after a long while. "Before... When we were at the truck stop."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, looking down at Sam and turning a little on the seat so he was facing the young Winchester, but still close enough that he was holding him. "What about?"

Sam shrugged, leaning more into Gabriel's side and closing his eyes. "You, mostly."

Gabriel chuckled nervously, unsure of what to make of this. "What _about_ me? My charming personality, or god-like good looks?"

That brought the tiniest of smiles to Sam's face, but he shook his head. "She said you... you... liked me."

"Oh." It felt like Gabriel's stomach was doing flips. "Sam, I promise, I never meant anything to come from it. I.... I wasn't gonna say anything. Just...." He pulled his hand away from Sam, suddenly feeling dirty and unworthy of this level of intimacy. "This isn't anything to do with that, I swear. I'm not that much of a perv."

Sam opened his eyes and glanced over at Gabriel, a frown on his face. "You didn't let me finish. She also said that she has a boyfriend back home. And that maybe..." Sam blushed, but didn't take his eyes off of the older boy. Sam scooted closer to him on the seat, taking one of Gabriel's hands on his, and leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Gabriel's lips. "That maybe I should try giving you a shot."To say Gabriel was surprised by the turn of events would have been a gross understatement. He sat there, blinking and blushing, for several moments, trying to make sense of it all, when Sam leaned in and kissed him again. "You're kinda cute when you're embarrassed." Sam mumbled.

"Sam..." Gabriel started, leaning a bit away from the younger boy. "Not that I'm not ecstatic right now, because I am, but... you could do so much better than me. You could. What do you want mixed up with me for?"

Sam shrugged and leaned his head on Gabriel's shoulder, smiling to himself. "I don't know... But... Seeing who you've been the last few days, I can't help but think that _that's_ you. That's who you are. Not the druggie, or the felon, but this. Right here. This is the real Gabriel Novak. And this Gabriel is someone that I wouldn't mind dating. Because he's kind of awesome, and I like him a lot."

Gabriel just shook his head and smiled, leaning down and pressing another kiss to Sam's forehead. "You might just be right about that, kiddo. And if you're really sure about this, then let's try us out. We'll give it a shot. But let's get some sleep, alright? We can talk about this more when we have Jessica back."

Sam nodded again, and curled up at Gabriel's side, his arm wrapped around the older boy tightly as he drifted off to sleep.

Gabriel leaned his head against the back of the seat, but didn't attempt to sleep. He stared out the window, wondering how this happened, and if he could continue to stay the person Sam thought he was after this was all over with. He supposed he could try, he owed that much to himself. And if Sam was really serious about this.... Maybe he could. Maybe this was the push he needed to sober up once and for all.

Gabriel was just getting ready to go under when static came from the radio and scared the ever loving shit out of him. Gabriel woke Sam and climbed over the back of the seat, getting ready to either answer or drive off in a mad rush if he had to.

"Hey, Angel Boy. Samsquatch. I've got your friends here. We're staying in room 17 at the motel just off the freeway. Come join us. And... would you mind bringing a bottle of chocolate sauce?"

Sam shared a nervous look with Gabriel, and without so much as a word, Gabriel pulled back onto the freeway and hit the gas, his mind whirling a mile a minute with scenarios and questions about what would happen when they got there. Would Sam be okay? Would they be too late to save the girls? He didn't know, and it honestly felt like they were walking into another trap, but Sam was right. He always had been. If there was a chance they could save Bela and Jessica, they needed to take it, no matter what the risk.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They stopped off at a 24 hour gas station and picked up the chocolate sauce, and hauled ass to the closest motel. Well, they would have, but as it so happened, there was more than one at the first exit off the freeway. Sam and Gabriel both started to panic, knowing they would have to hurry if they expected to make it in time, and peeled into the parking lot of the first.

The boys ran up to the 17th room, and after knocking loudly several times, were met with nothing but silence. They hopped back into the car and moved to the next. Same result.

All in all, it took four tries before they finally ended up at the right motel.

______

Tears spilled down Jessica's cheeks and small, terrified whimpers escaped her throat as the trucker wrapped her in shrink wrap and gagged her with scotch tape. Her chair was nailed to the floor, rendering escape nearly impossible.

"You're such a pretty thing," Hell's Angel crooned, stroking his hand across Jessica's face, "I might have to keep you around for a little longer after your boyfriends are dead. Maybe we can get your friend in on this, too." Jess resisted the urge to scream, knowing it would only make things worse for her if she did, and sat there shaking. "But then again, watching your head get blown off while Sammy tries playing hero seems even more fun." The truck driver picked something up off the bed and walked over to the door, beginning to set a trap for the boys.

Jessica's eyes flickered to what the trucker was holding, and had to resist the urge to scream when she realized it was a gun, and it was being set up to go off when the door opened. "Now, my dear, we wait." Hell's Angel said when he was finished.

__________

"Alright, do we have any kind of game plan for what we're gonna do when we find this bastard?" Gabriel asked as he pulled into a parking space. "Or are we just making it up as we go?"

Sam's eyes scanned the motel rooms, trying to think of what to tell Gabriel while also looking for the correct room. "Leave Hell's Angel to me. Just worry about getting Jessica safe."

"Sam..." Gabriel laid his hand on Sam's shoulder, trying to get his attention. "We're a team now, remember? I want this bastard taken out every bit as much as you do. I'm not leaving you in there alone. I'm just not." Sam met his eyes for a moment and Gabriel leaned in, kissing him quickly before they had to go. He was terrified of something happening to one or both of them, but if it had to be someone, he'd rather it be him. He would do whatever it took to make sure Sam and Jessica got out of there alive.

Sam replied to Gabe with a tiny nod of his head and then got out, waiting on his boyfriend before taking off for room 17.

______

Jessica could hear footsteps and voices approaching the room and her heart pounded in her chest. Hell's Angel was on the room's phone, getting ready to dial a number. Jess could feel panic rising in her chest, though she tried to control it. Panicking wouldn't do anything to help her now.

They heard the door to the next room open, and everything fell silent. Neither Jess nor the trucker dared to breathe as they listened to the boys talking, and tried to make out what they were saying. Two beats passed before Hell's Angel finally dialed the number he'd been waiting on, and Jess could hear the phone ringing through the wall.

________

Sam opened the door to room 17 with a sweaty hand and anxiousness prickling at the back of his mind. He shared a look with Gabriel before turning the knob and actually finding the door unlocked. It swung open, and the boys both looked around for any sign that Jessica was there.

They saw nothing, and Sam was filled with the idea that they'd been tricked. "She's not here," Gabriel whispered, "Sam... Why - Why isn't she here?"

"I don't know,"

"There aren't any other motels around here! She has to be here!" Gabriel was shouting now, frustrated and worried for their friend and her safety. "What are we gonna do? We don't have time to go check everything again! We--"

They could hear the phone ringing and both boys turned to it at the same time, but Sam was the one who picked it up. "Hello?"

"Now you know how it feels," the voice of the tucker answered, and Sam motioned for Gabriel to come listen too. "To be on the wrong end of a bad idea. To know the humiliation of knowing someone's watching you while you fall into a trap." Sam's eyes flickered to the wall, and he pressed his free ear against it, listening in case maybe his hunch was right. Sure enough, there was a bit of an echo as the man spoke to them. "Your little girlfriend is dead, Sam." He said. "She screamed. Oooh, she screamed. She begged me not to kill her, to let her live, and if I didn't, I'd be sorry. Will I be sorry, Sam?" Hell's Angel almost sounded amused.

Sam took the phone away from his ear and tapped Gabriel on the shoulder. _He's in the next room. Go around through the back_ , he mouthed. _See if you can get in there_.

Gabriel nodded and quietly made his way to the door, slipping outside and sneaking under the window of room 18 and then ran around to the back of the motel, counting his way down the line until he reached what he thought was 18, and listened. Gabriel could hear muffled voices coming from one of the rooms and he peeked inside from the window in the back, seeing Jessica tied up in the middle of the floor, a shotgun aimed right at her head. He could see the back of Hell's Angel, still on the phone with Sam, and wondered how in the hell he could get in there. Gabriel shifted his position a bit, and ended up stepping on a piece of glass which shattered under his shoe.

Everything fell dead silent. Jessica stopped whimpering, Sam stopped talking, and the trucker did too. The only sound Gabriel could hear was the sound of his own heart hammering in his chest as he waited for something to happen.

He didn't see the truck driver stand, or hear him walk to the window, but in a second flat, the man burst through the glass and rammed Gabriel against the wooden fence surrounding the back of the motel. Gabriel could feel something in his leg, and he looked down, seeing something long, sharp, and covered with his blood sticking through the meat o his thigh. "SAM!" Gabriel shouted, hoping the younger boy could hear him. "GET JESS!"

Hell's Angel pulled the piece of metal farther through Gabriel's leg and hooked it so he wouldn't be able to leave. He then tied the shorter boy's arms behind his back and hoisted him up onto the fence by the back of his jacket and shirt, hanging him there. "You're gonna die tonight, boy," the trucker threatened before taking off.

Gabriel could hear Sam jiggling the doorhandle of Jessica's room, and his heart sank. Jess screamed, and Gabe could see a crack of light shining through the door. "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!" He shouted at Sam. "THERE'S A GUN! SAM, THERE'S A GUN AND IT'S POINTED AT JESS. DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!"

The door shut, and a moment later, Sam came around from the front and he stopped once he saw Gabriel. "What happened to you?" He demanded, running over to his boyfriend and checking him over. "What did he do to you?"

Gabriel shook his head, trying to mask the pain he was in, and nodded to the door. "Get Jessica out of there, and then worry about me." Sam hesitated for a moment, but another cry from Jessica decided for him. "Go, Sam!" Gabe yelled.

Sam climbed through the broken window and got started on trying to undo the wrapping around Jessica's body.

_______

Hell's Angel made his way back to his semi with a smirk on his face. He was going to take all three of those bratty kids out of it was the last thing he did. And he was going to get away with it. The other bitch was still in the back of the cab, whimpering and crying and begging for him to let her go. If he could take her out too, better for him. The man made his way around to the back of his rig, opening the trailer and climbing up inside of it. He pulled out a cellphone and dialed 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Yeah, I'd like to report some bodies in room 18 of the Cupid's Arrow motel off the freeway."

"What's your name, Sir?"

The trucker smirked to himself and glanced down at the body at his feet. "Luke."

Luke hoisted the body up over his shoulder and carried it back to the cab, setting it up into the driver's seat and arranging one of the feet onto the gas pedal. He could hear Bela screaming louder from the back at the site of the body, but he ignored her.

The guy, he remembered, had been the man whom he'd plowed through the night he ran the boys into the tree. A sick grin twisted up Luke's face as he choked the life out of a dying man, and he stuck the key into the ignition and turned the engine over. The truck sped off, and Luke chuckled to himself as he took off walking the other way, amused with the fact he was getting away with it this easily.

_________

Sam had just started making progress on the shrink wrap when the cops showed up. He could see the lights flashing in through the window, and hear them crashing through every door leading up to them. The closer they got, the heavier both his and Jessica's eyes fell on the gun pointed at them. Sam thought about trying to mess with it, but he wasn't willing to take the risk of springing the trap himself and getting Jessica killed, so he decided to just free her instead.

The crashing of doors was all around them as Sam worked, scratching at the thick layers of the stuff with a screw he undid from the back of the chair. It was slow going, but Jessica was able to move a little now, so that was something.

Two doors away, they could hear the cops.

One...

Then theirs. "DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!" Sam and Jessica shouted together. It was too late to do anything, though. The door opened and Sam did the only thing he could think of: he tackled Jessica to the ground in her chair with enough force that the nails holding it to the ground came loose, and they toppled to the floor as the gun went off. The bullet hitting the ceiling instead of them, and Sam sighed in relief.

"What's going on in here?" One of the cops asked, and Sam was getting ready to answer when he heard Gabriel screaming.

"Go," Jessica told him. "I'll explain."

Sam nodded and sprinted out the back to Gabriel's side, getting ready to ask what was wrong when he heard the blaring of a truck horn. He turned to see the semi barreling towards them at a speed that left Sam with mere minutes to decide what to do. He grabbed Gabriel by the legs and lifted him off the fence, gently setting him on the ground and got started untying his hands. He tried to move the older boy, but when Gabriel screamed, he noticed the piece of metal sticking out of his thigh. "Just go, Sam." Gabriel told him, looking sadly up at him.

"I'm not leaving you." Sam replied, grabbing the metal in his hands and trying to bend it back.

"Sam, you're never gonna make it. Just go. Nobody's gonna miss me if I'm gone, but you have a future to look forward to. Don't give it up because of me."

Sam stalled what he was doing for a moment to stare at Gabriel. "And what about me, Gabe? _I_  would miss you if something happened. So would Cas. You have a future back in Kansas. With me, if you want it. Now shut up and let me get you out of here!" He pulled harder at the rod, and got it bent back just enough that Gabriel could pull his leg out, and Sam dragged him to safety just in time for the semi to crash through the fence and into the room where Jessica had been moments earlier.

Sam had landed with Gabriel half on top of him, and hugged the shorter boy tightly against his chest as tears filled his eyes at the luck he'd just had. "Don't ever scare me like that again." He whispered, kissing the back of Gabriel's head.

"Don't plan on it, kiddo. Now, should we see if the others are okay?" Gabriel tried to stand, but the pain in his leg was too much for him to even think about putting weight on his leg. Sam stood and pulled Gabriel up, helping the shorter boy into a piggyback. Gabe held onto Sam as tightly as he could, his chin resting on the top of Sam's head with his eyes tightly shut. He couldn't believe Sam would risk his life for him like that, but he was glad he did.

Sam set Gabriel back onto the ground when they got around front, and helped him up into the back of an ambulance. Gabriel held onto one of Sam's hands as the nurses worked on his leg; he didn't want to let Sam go for anything in the world.

Though he didn't have the energy to put up too much of a fight when they made Sam move due to lack of very important space. Sam wandered over to the crash site, where a few cops were gathered around and ready to open the cab. They could hear screaming inside, and once they opened the door, they saw the body, and a young girl tied up in the back, screaming and begging for them to help her.

Sam sighed in relief once he saw Bela was okay, and decided to go find Jessica and let her know.

______

The three of them spent the night in the hospital for observation, although Sam and Jessica were pretty much unscathed. The two of them made themselves comfortable in Gabriel's room, not wanting to be split up for too long considering the circumstances. Jessica slept on the couch, while Sam climbed into bed with his boyfriend. Sam was unable to sleep himself, too afraid of what would await him when he closed his eyes, so he decided to just watch Gabriel and make sure he was okay.

The next morning, they were released, and Gabriel, despite his injuries, volunteered to drive so Sam could get some much needed rest. It was easier to sleep in the daylight, Sam decided.

______

Gabriel made good on his promise to get the Impala fixed when they got back to Kansas, and the three of them gave some bullshit stories to their families about site seeing and getting caught up in the road trip while they waited for the car to be fixed. Three days and a repaid debt later, the three ended up back in Lawrence.

Jessica went home to stay with her family. Gabriel and Sam dropped her off at nearly 2:00 in the morning, and then the two just drove around for awhile, not exactly wanting to go home and have their brothers all over them just yet.

Sam found an empty parking spot in a stereotypical teenage makeout spot and pulled in, rolling down the windows and staring out ahead at the stars.

"What?" Gabriel smirked, "You thinkin' you're gonna get lucky tonight, kiddo?"

Sam laughed and shook his head, turning a little in his seat to look at Gabriel. "I just wanted to talk before we went home." He explained. "You know, um... If - If you're really willing to do it, I wanna give us a shot here."

"Sam, we already--"

"It was different that night, Gabe." Sam interrupted. "We were both emotional, and tired and stressed, and it wasn't a good time to bring it up. But... I've been thinking a lot about it, and I really, really like you, so, if you want to, I would really try to make this work."

Gabriel pretended to think about it for a few moments before a huge grin split his face and he pulled Sam in for a kiss. "I do, too, Sam. I want to make this work. You really captured my heart the last couple weeks, you big puppy-moose, you." Gabriel chuckled, leaning his head against Sam's and closing his eyes. He couldn't describe how happy it made him that Sam really wanted to try them out - he had been worried before that it was just Sam's nerves talking before, that once they got home he'd be gone again - and he made a promise to himself and to Sam not to fuck this one up.

They spent the night there, talking about what all had happened between them until the sun came up, and decided it was probably a good idea to go home.

____

As it turned out, Dean and Castiel were still asleep when they got there, so Sam led Gabriel up to his room and they both passed out within minutes of each other. They knew they'd have questions to answer when their brothers woke up, but for now, they could just relax. The horror was over, the good guys had won, and for the moment, it was just the two of them curled up with each other in Sam's small bed.


End file.
